Royal Australian Mint Gnomes at Floriade

The Royal Australian Mint will feature in the 2008 Floriade corporate gnome competition with an entry called ‘Priscilla, Coin of the Desert’.

In the spirit of the theme Floriade 21 Films that Shaped our Nation, the Mint has entered 3 gnome characters from the Australian box office hit of 1994 Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

The Mint joins with other top attractions to offer Floriade 21 themed experiences throughout the 30 day festival on the Floriade Trail. Visitors to the Mint shop in Deakin will be able to test their knowledge of Australian films and coins. The special exhibition will run for the duration of the festival and if visitors correctly match movie titles with coin themes they will receive a 10% discount off their purchases.

"The Mint has been a proud supporter of Floriade for twenty one years." says Janine Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Mint.

"We encourage tourists visiting Floriade to explore Canberra and visit the Royal Australian Mint where they can see our special exhibition and as always mint their very own $1 coin." said Mrs Murphy.

Along with the special Floriade 21 exhibition, visitors to the Mint will be able to experience:

• Treasures of the National Coin Collection: An exciting exhibition which features highlights from the Mint’s National Coin Collection including decimal and pre-decimal coins.
• Mint theatrette presentation: a short film presentation about the history of the Mint, how coins are made and information about the current refurbishment project.
• Make your own money: Make your very own $1 coin on the public coining press. Each coin has a special ‘C’ for Canberra mintmark.
• Coin Shop: find a unique gift, and take advantage of special Floriade discounts.

The Royal Australian Mint is open 9am- 4pm Monday to Friday, and 10am- 4pm Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays. Please visit www.ramint.gov.au for further information or to make a group booking. Free entry, free parking, free barbeque facilities, but sorry- no free samples.

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About the Royal Australian Mint

His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, officially opened the Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, on Monday 22nd February 1965. The Mint was commissioned to produce Australia’s decimal coinage, which was to be introduced into circulation on 14th February 1966. The Royal Australian Mint holds a place in history as the first mint in Australia not to be a branch of the Royal Mint, London.

Since opening in 1965 the Mint has produced over eleven billion circulating coins and has the capacity to produce over two million coins per day, or over six hundred million coins per year.

The Royal Australian Mint has struck coins for a number of South Pacific nations. Export coins were first struck in 1969 for New Zealand and, since then, coins have been produced for Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Western Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, Israel and Tokelau.